Princess of Earth and Beast of the Sands
by divapixie24
Summary: Sabaku no Gaara and Toph Beifong have met each only once in their lives creating an unbreakable bond, unbeknownst to them this bond has lasted the tests of time…


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Avatar the Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra. Nothing written here is canon, just fiction.

Chapter 1

First Meeting

Among the sea of roiling sands, from a distance, a convoy of green travelled the sandy terrain. Among this convoy were muscular men dressed in green and biege garb, wide sloping hats, and some wearing shoes, others barefoot traversed the sands guiding a carriage pulled by peculiar beasts led by an individual shrouded in large wrappings. The highly decorated carriage was drawn by two birdlike beasts, the size of horses across the sands, within it sat three dignified figures of Earth Kingdom high society.

These dignified figures were a family of three; Lao Beifong and his wife Poppy along with their six-year old daughter Toph. Usually, the mustached patriarch didn't bring his family along on his occasional business trips, especially his blind and frail child either; indeed, it was due to the emergence of a new land called the Elemental Continent.

With the discovery of this new land and resources, many a businessman travelled to this continent establishing prosperous trade, beneficial for both parties. Thanks to a longtime friend and trading partner, Lao was arranged to meet a daimyo for the Land of Wind to discuss a trading agreement as well as to peruse the villages of the land for their profitability.

Initially, upon hearing this he was ecstatic as well as his wife, both interested in seeing this new land for themselves. However, their excitement faded at the thought of their poor, defenseless child all alone in their expansive home.

" _What if she got hurt?, Will she be scared once we are gone?_ " thought the worried parents. Despite having the best staff in all of Gao Ling or possibly the Earth Kingdom, they feared that without their presence they may return to their precious daughter to find her harmed or worse. Bringing them to the most difficult decision to bring their daughter along, not without a complete security escort and servants before they left.

So far, the journey was a tedious one having to cross most of the continent to reach their sandy destination of the Land of Wind; thankfully, the meeting with the Wind Daimyo went smoothly despite some difficulties and currently he was on his way to one of the Hidden Villages said daimyo mentioned, in hopes of investing.

"We're here" informed their shrouded guide, causing almost everyone in the convoy to be alert and attentive. Sure enough as Lao and his wife peeked out of their carriage, lo and behold, there stood a wall of cliffs and rocks with the only visible entrance was in a single visible cleft between the two cliff faces, gaurded by two strangely dressed men whom they assumed were guards.

To them, the wall seemed similar to that of Ba Sing Se although poorer looking in comparison. After being let in by the guards, they saw buildings made of clay and stucco in interesting shapes; the people who were going about their business stared in awe at the carriage almost as if they never encountered such embodiment of wealth nor seen someone of such status before, and that being foreigners was not helping.

The family and convoy was led to grand hotel for their stay in the village dubbed Sunagakure, as they went for their reservations. Lao helped his frail daughter off the carriage, holding her hand preventing her from falling. The delicate child was dressed in lovely green and beige dress, her face covered by a veil; the father thought it better that their child's identity remain under wraps just as it had been in Gao Ling.

Together the family entered their respective rooms to rest. A long day ahead awaited them the next day…

Toph was bored. An undeniable statement, as she currently lay slack over the arm of a chair in her designated room. Her father had just left earlier today, presumably to talk business with the locals of "Sandy" village.

She was honestly excited for the first time in her entire life, as her parents presented her with the opportunity to leave the walls of her personal prison she called home. Knowing her parents as she did, they brought the entire staff if not the house with them. The tiresome journey which consisted of constantly checking on her as if she'd die if their backs were turned, made her wonder if she should've stayed home in the first place; but she would not want to waste such a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It was currently late afternoon, she could tell as she heard the hustle and bustle of the streets below become a lot quieter compared to a few hours earlier, the sun's rays on her skin also seemed weaker than a few hours prior.

" _Maybe I can go exploring?_ " the young girl thought " _It's not like I go anywhere, anyways. Might as well take the chance!_ ". With her mind set, she quickly grabbed a cloak and put it on with haste, hurrying towards the door.

The blind girl stopped before door, waiting and feeling the vibrations from the other side, listening and waiting.

There were two guards by her door, each leaning against the wall giving her ease in sensing the vibrations. They appeared to be sleeping deeply, if their slow heartbeat and breathing were any indication. With their status known she quietly stepped out of the room, sneaking out of the hotel dodging both staff and her other "handlers" along the way.

"Ugh, so much sand!" Toph whined as she trudged the sandy street of Suna. Despite her great earthbending skill, she was severely lacking when it came to sand, with her seismic sense everything appeared fuzzy and shifting, unlike her preferred form of earth, solid ground. Thankfully, she was able to harden the sand to solid earth.

As she walked among the people, she experienced many foreign sensations as she continued her adventure. She detected building in interesting , curved shapes , smells of foreign food (that she wasn't currently in the mood for), the noises of the villagers everyday lives; although she had detected vibrations indicating that some people were jumping about on the buildings, but that would be ridiculous.

The blind child continued on to a playground, which was thankfully made of solid ground.

"Run, it's Gaara!" said a boy's voice, as Toph felt a bunch of other children running past her, their hearts racing with fear.

"But… I just want to play?" a small weak voice coming from the direction the other children were running from. The young girl turned her head to… much to her confusion.. a small, meek boy; nothing even mildly scary about him as far as she could tell.

The boy appeared just a few inches taller than her in height, which wasn't very tall; the vibrations she picked up from the boy indicated that he was sad, his soft sniffles another indicator.

Unseen to her however, was the boy's unnatural blood red hair, sitting atop a face consisting of sea green eyes ringed in black from lack of sleep and strangely absent eyebrows.

To Toph, he was just an ordinary kid; nothing more, nothing less. She brushed off the other kids' reaction as just something stupid or other, nothing for her to be too concerned. Seeing as he was the only kid in the playground, she boldly walked towards him.

Gaara sat alone in the playground, once again his very presence clearing every child away from the vicinity. It was always the same, every time he approached children and even adults would back away calling him a monster. He just wanted a friend…

"Hey, Kid"

Gaara looked up to see a young girl standing before him. She was only a little younger than him, wearing a pretty dress of green and beige covered by a bland brown, cloak; her hair appeared to be in something like a large bun, with two thin bangs framing her face. What drew him the most, were her glazed sea foam green eyes that seemed to look nowhere.

"Hello? Anybody in there?" said the girl waving her hand in front of his face, binging the boy back to his senses. Gaara quickly turned his face away, his cheeks turning warm, he didn't mean to stare at her that long.

"Um…Hi?" replied the shy boy red-headed boy.

" _Shy, isn't he?"_ Toph thought " _I guess I'll go first."_

"Hi, my name of Toph. What's your name?" Toph asked the lonely boy.

"My name is… Gaara" said the boy now dubbed Gaara. His demeanor seeming to pick up slightly as the friendly encounter continued.

The girl then walked off and returned with a ball in her hand, the same ball left abandoned by the other children as they fled.

"So… Wanna play?" She asked, holding the ball towards the surprised boy.

"Okay!" Gaara excitedly replied.

Both children smiling as they had both finally found their very first friend.

Please Read and Review.

A/N

I apologize, Toph learnt her earthbending from the badgermoles when she was six not five. Sorry for the false update.


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